PEROT: NORTH ARRANGED FOR RANSOM MONEY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00587R000100200020-9
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 30, 2011
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: December 2, 1986
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Approved For Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100200020-9
e
Perot
North
arranged for
ransom money
By Sharer Johnson
USA TODAY
WASHINGTON - L.t Col.
Oliver North arranged for Tex-
as blllionaire H. Roes Perot to
put up ransom money in felled
attempts to free various USA
hostages, Perot said today.
North is the National Securi-
ty Coundl stailer the White
House 11red after saying he'd
engineered - on his owe -
the Irancontra arms deals.
Perot put up money several
times over the past itve years,
be told ABC's NighUine.
He did not respond directly
when asked whether anyone
but North knew of the ra~om
attempts, saying, "My seine is
that the people who do these
types of things are very meticu-
ttieir acdi apprnval for
Attorney General Edwin
Meese has said North was the
only one who knew 9ped>keliy
of the arms deals.
Perot's mast recent involy-
meat: May 23, when North
asked Perot to put 12 million is
a Swigs bank as part of a secret
hostages rematning USA
That was IIve days before
North and ex-national security
adviser Robert McFarlane
made their secret trip to Ilan.
The White House would ne1-
ther coMrm nor deny North
was trying to nu~om haskges
when President Reagan wag
pledging publicly the United
States would not do that
'"fhe NSC people say no one
there knows anything about it,"
White House spokesman Dan
Howard said Monday night
he free h ~~ a~~ ~
p oetages included:
^ In 1984, putting up S2 mil-
lion to try to free kidnapped
CIA Beirut s~atlon chief Wil-
iam Buckley "It was a very
c`oncenfia~-d e>Yort around
Buckley ... because of the post.
lion he had." Perot said.
^ Ia early 1982, Putting up
1500,000 to try to ransom Brig.
Gen. James L Do?ier, kid-
napped in Italy and later res-
cued by Italian police.
North also asked Perot to
give money to the contras, The
day, ~bu~t Perot reiused~o~ to-
Perot -reportedly the third
wealthiest person in the USA
- said he'd put up ransom.
money spin it asked: "It's the
proper thing to do."
Approved For Release 2011/08/31 :CIA-RDP91-005878000100200020-9